Labour market dynamics in Canada, 1891-1911: a first look from new census samples

Inwood, Kris, MacKinnon, Mary and Minns, Chris
(2010)
Labour market dynamics in Canada, 1891-1911: a first look from new census samples.
Economic History Working Papers,
148/10.
Department of Economic History, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.

Abstract

This paper uses newly available census evidence to portray changes in labour market outcomes in Canada between 1891 and 1911. Multiple census cross-sections allow for the documentation of how the location, occupation, and earnings of Canadian and foreign-born cohorts changed over time. The westward movement of young anglophones after 1901 contributed to the formation of a national labour market. Anglophone, francophone, and foreign-born cohorts all experienced significant occupational mobility between 1891 and 1911, but francophones and immigrants remained over-represented at the bottom of the occupational ladder. Greater occupational and geographical mobility supported higher rates of earnings growth among Anglophones.